This recipe is considered one of the 2 main dishes that were traditionally served during wedding ceremonies in Northern Bekaa, especially in the village of Aarsal where chickpeas are one of the major cultivated field crops. The other two recipes are “Shekriyye” or “Laban emmo w rez” and “Fasolia w rez” or bean stew. This “sweet” recipe rich with starch is served with rice.

Total Servings: 5

490 calories / serving

Preparation Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

300g of chickpeas, soaked overnight

1 big onion, cut in julienne

500 g of potato, coarsely diced

500g of lean meat, cubed

2 liters of water

Black pepper and salt to taste

Preparation:

Boil the meat, chickpeas and onion in 1.5 liter of water for 30 minutes

Add the remaining water quantity and the diced potatoes and cook on low fire until the potatoes are done

1. Mix the biscuit with butter and press it down in the serving cup with a spoon.

2. Mix the cheesecake pudding on medium speed, then high speed until it becomes thick and creamy. Layer it on top of the biscuits and then a layer of cheesecake and finish off with a layer of Konafa and drizzle with apricot sauce.

Beat cake mix, oil, 275ml water and egg whites in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Fold in ground almonds with large spoon, then pour into pan

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan; remove to cooling rack positioned over plate.

Heat sugar and 3 tablespoons water in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Heat to boiling; cook 2 minutes, then stir in rose water. Remove from heat. Pierce cake all over with toothpick, then slowly pour over or brush with sugar syrup. Cool completely on rack.

1- In a food processor, process the meat with the bulgur and onion.2- Season with salt, black pepper, cinnamon, dried mint, all spice and cumin. Mix well until combined.3- Knead the ingredients using hot sauce until the meat dough is homogenous.4- Divide into medium-sized ball and shape into fingers.5- Preheat the grill and oil it evenly.6- Grill the kibbeh until done.

Note: Allspice is a mixture of spices and herbs widely used in the Middle Eastern cuisine. It can be prepared easily at home from different spices such as: cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, dried lime and curcuma. Use it to enrich your savory dishes!

It is important to use a good-quality burghal when making kibbeh. Use an unbleached fine grain and soak it in cold water until it is fully reconstituted so it won’t absorb the lamb juices and dry out the lamb. Lamb leg with all the fat and sinew removed is the best choice for kibbeh as it minces well. You’ll need a mincer to make this dish, and I totally recommend buying one to have on hand. You never know what’s in the minced meat you buy from supermarkets and butchers!

Heat the olive oil in a small heavy-based saucepan over a low heat, add the onion and cook for 15 minutes or until caramelised “” you want it to be dark golden brown with a sweet flavour.

Add the minced lamb and cook for about 15 minutes or until the juices start to dry up, breaking up the mince with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Stir in the raisins and pine nuts and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Season with ras el hanout and salt to taste, then place in the refrigerator until cold.

To make the ras el hanout, place all the ingredients in a dry frying pan and toast over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Transfer to a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind to a fine powder. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. Makes 125g.

To make the shell, soak the burghal in cold water for 30 minutes until it is soft. Drain and place in the centre of a clean, dry tea towel. Hold over the sink and wring out as much water as you can.

Tip the burghal into a bowl and stir in the cumin, cinnamon, salt and lamb strips. Mince all the ingredients together in a fine-grade mincer (depending on your mincer, you may have to do this twice).

To make the kibbeh, take an egg-sized amount of the shell mixture and form into a ball. Poke a hole in the ball with your finger, making a space for the filling.

Add a teaspoon of filling and pinch the top to seal the ball. You can then shape it into a point or football shape, or just leave it as a ball. Repeat with the remaining shell and filling mixtures.

Heat the oil in a deep heavy-based frying pan or deep-fryer to 180°C (a cube of bread dropped into the oil will brown in 15 seconds). Add the kibbeh in batches and cook for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towel and serve immediately.

Recipe from Maha by Shane Delia, with photographs by Sharyn Cairns. Published by Penguin.

Brush oil in a shallow baking pan. Place sugar in large skillet. Place skillet over medium-high heat to melt sugar, swirling skillet occasionally to ensure it melts evenly – but do not stir, or it will crystallize. When sugar starts to turn golden, add walnuts. Stir briefly, then carefully pour onto oiled pan. Cool 10 minutes, then break into small pieces.

Gently run knife around sides of mold, and turn out onto plates to serve. Serve with brittle and whipped cream.

Tips

Another way of ensuring the crème caramel comes out of the mold is to very quickly dip the bottom half of the mold into hot water. This heats the outside of the crème caramel up, so it slides out easily. You can serve the crème caramel in the molds or serving cups instead of turning out onto serving plates.

In the bowl of a food processor, puree the chickpeas and garlic until a thick paste forms. Give this a couple of minutes (longer than you’d think). With the machine running, add the tahini, salt, and lemon juice. Slowly add cooking liquid or water, a tablespoon at a time, until the hummus is very smooth and light but still thick (again, process a little longer than usual). Taste and adjust with salt and lemon juice as needed.

Spoon the hummus onto a six small plates, spreading the hummus with the back of a spoon to form a well in the center. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sumac, and serve immediately.

Maacaroun bi kishk combines dough balls cooked in kishk soup! Rich with carbohydrates and proteins, this soup is commonly prepared by dwellers of the elevated mountains during cold winter days. The dough balls are pressed on a fork or a sieve which gives them the pattern of the “sweet maacaroun” and makes them absorb the soup easily. Kawarma is sometimes added to the kishk, hence adding its caloric content of course! In the Soueidah region in Syria, Maacaroun bi kishk is also prepared with slight differences; the dough is cooked in hot water, drained then sprinkled with kishk, olive oil and minced garlic.

Total servings: 4

Caloric content: 400 calories/serving

Ingredients

The maacaroun dough

1 cup of flour

¼ cup of water

A pinch of salt

Kishk soup

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 garlic gloves: 2 chopped and 2 whole

1 Tbsp. of vegetable oil

1 cup pf kishk powder

2 cups of water

Preparation steps:

Maacaroun dough

Mix the flour with salt and water to obtain a dough

Knead well and cut into small pieces

Make balls with the dough pieces

Roll each ball against a fork or a sieve or a grater to give it a patterned texture (like the sweet maacaroun)

Put aside while preparing the kishk soup

Kishk soup

Stir-fry the onion and garlic in the vegetable oil until soft and transparent

The Blogger

A food lover who wants to try every delicious dishes around him and spread the news to everyone to try it as well. Finding the latest trends about food and restaurants around Cebu and the rest of the world :)